http://www.unifemsingapore.org.sg/unifemnews2/newsmain.htm
Trafficking of women and children: a Filipino perspective
Judge Nimfa Cuesta Vilches
In the Philippines, female children experiences discrimination early in life. For many Filipino
girls, there is nowhere to hide from gender bias – it is entwined in their culture and it is
reinforced by family structures and behaviors. Despite their special nutritional needs as a future
mother and nurturer, many girls receive less food than their fathers and brothers. And, when
money for education is scarce, it is the male children that are given preference.
A Filipino girl takes on the stereotypical role of her mother; abused and submissive, relegated to
domestic work. The public considers girls and women as sex objects and typifies them as
club/bar entertainers, beauty pageant contestants and racy or pornographic film stars.
Society’s gender biases are difficult to combat. They are compounded by problems of extreme
poverty, globalization, aggressive tourism campaigns, negative portrayals of women by mass
media, online pornography and chat-rooms, the practice of ‘mail-order’ brides, inter-country
adoption and joint military exercises in the country with visiting forces from abroad. Combined
with porous borders and the export of workers, these factors cause women to become easy
victims of sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation, at home and abroad.
More than four million Filipinos are unemployed; 40% are women. In 2000, there were around
600,000 prostitutes in the Philippines; 50,000 of them children. In September 2002, a
staggering 1.6 million Filipinos left the country to work abroad; 48% were female. In the first
quarter of 2003, 2872 Filipino children were sexually abused and exploited. Further, it is
expected that the number of girls, estimated to be 16.7 million in 2000, will significantly increase
to 17.4 million by 2005.
The new anti-trafficking law
For some time, trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children hardly mattered to
Filipinos. This made it difficult for victims to seek legal redress for the violence and abuses
committed against them. However, on 26 May 2003, with the sex trade reaching global
proportions, the Philippine legislature was prompted to enact Republic Act 9208 or the Antitrafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
This law is a milestone in the promotion of human dignity and protection of persons, particularly
women and children, against any threat of violence or exploitation. It seeks to eliminate
trafficking, establish institutional mechanisms for the protection and support of trafficked
persons and provide penalties for violations of the law.
A trafficked person outside the Philippines falls under the category of ‘overseas Filipino in
distress’, and is entitled to all legal assistance extended by the Migrant Workers & Overseas
Filipinos Act. Additionally, the anti-trafficking law recognizes that trafficked persons are victims
and as such, are not penalized for crimes directly related to any act of trafficking. Thus, a
trafficked person’s consent to the intended trafficking is deemed to be irrelevant.
Universally accepted instruments and conventions to which the Philippines is a signatory
provide a strong framework for the anti-trafficking law. These include the UN Universal
Declaration on Human Rights; UN conventions on the Rights of the Child, Protection of Migrant
Workers & their Families and Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime including its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
& Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women & Children.
A comprehensive law
The new law interprets ‘trafficking’ in its broadest sense. It refers to recruitment, transportation,
transfer or harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim's consent or knowledge,
within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion,
abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability
of the person.
The law also covers foreigners who are trafficked in the Philippines. They are entitled to the
same protection, assistance and services given to trafficked Filipinos, and are allowed to remain
in the country for as long as is necessary to prosecute offenders.
‘Trafficking’ is defined as any of the following acts, committed by a person or entity for the
purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary
servitude or debt bondage:
(a) recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, providing or receiving a person on the
pretext of domestic or overseas employment, training or apprenticeship
(b) introducing or matching for a consideration any Filipino woman to a foreign national for
marriage for the purpose of trading her for prostitution
(c) offering or contracting marriage
(d) undertaking or organizing tours and travel plans
(e) maintaining or hiring a person, and
(f) adopting or facilitating adoption.
Any undue recruitment, hiring, adoption or movement of persons and children for removal or
sale of organs or, for children, to engage in armed activities in the Philippines or abroad are
also considered acts of trafficking.
A person may be held liable under the law for promoting or facilitating trafficking by doing any or
a combination of the following acts:
 knowingly leasing space or building
 furnishing fictitious certificates to comply government regulatory and pre-departure
requirements
 publishing propaganda materials
 assisting in the exit and entry of persons from/to the country with fraudulent documents
 depriving or destroying passports and personal documents to prevent trafficked
persons from leaving the country and for obtaining assistance; or
 knowingly benefiting services from persons held to a condition of involuntary servitude,
forced labor or slavery.
Qualified offences of trafficking
Harsher penalties – of life imprisonment and a fine of at least P2 million – is inflicted on
offenders in special circumstances such as:
 when the trafficked person is a child (aged under 18 years) or an adult unable to care
for self
 when adoption is effected under the Inter-country Adoption Law
 when committed by a syndicate (group of three or more persons in conspiracy) or in
large scale (against three or more persons)
 when committed by a person exercising parental authority over the victim or by a public
officer or employee
 when the trafficked person is recruited to engage in prostitution with military or law
enforcement agencies
 when the offender is a member of the military or a law enforcement agency
 when by reason or on occasion of the trafficking, the victim dies, becomes insane,
suffers mutilation or is afflicted with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or the
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The penalty for buying/engaging the services of trafficked persons for prostitution is six
months community service and a fine of P50,000 for the first offence. An imprisonment and
fine of P100,000 are imposed for second and subsequent offences.
The anti-trafficking law further authorizes the court to order the confiscation and forfeiture of
the proceeds and instruments derived from trafficking.
Inter-agency approach
An Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking has been established under the new law. It is
chaired by the Secretary of Justice and co-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of
Social Welfare & Development. The other members are heads of the departments of foreign
affairs, labor, overseas employment, immigration, law enforcement; commission on the role of
women; and three representatives from NGOs.
Among the important functions of the Council are: to formulate programs that will prevent
trafficking:
 promulgate rules and regulations to implement the law
 monitor strict implementation
 coordinate inter-agency projects
 conduct massive information campaign
 direct other agencies to immediately respond to problems of trafficking
 assist in the filing of cases against offenders
 formulate programs for reintegration of trafficked persons
 secure assistance from government and NGOs to implement the law
 share information and have continuing research on the patterns and schemes of
trafficking
initiate training programs.
Trafficked Filipinos abroad are repatriated regardless of whether their travel to another country
is documented or not. If repatriation will expose the victim to greater risks, the Philippines will
make representations with the host country for an extension of residency permit and
protection. However, trafficking in persons shall be included among extraditable offences.
Prosecution of offenders
Any person with actual knowledge of trafficking may initiate a complaint in the court where the
crime was committed or where the victim resides. If the offended party decides to file a
separate action for damages resulting from the act of trafficking, no court fees are required to
be paid.
The victim has a period of 10 years within which to commence a criminal complaint. Where
trafficking is conducted by a syndicate, or done in large scale, the period to prosecute is 20
years from the time the victim is released from bondage.
Pursuant to the Rape Victim Assistance & Protection Act, an all-female team of police officers,
examining physicians and prosecutors must handle the investigation of offences committed
against women. Protective measures such as the right to privacy and closed-door
investigations are accorded to the victim.
The victim’s personal circumstances are not to be disclosed to the public and the investigation
is conducted in a language known or familiar to the victim. Every trafficked woman or child
enjoys preferential entitlement to the benefits under Republic Act 6981 or the Witness
Protection Program.
In the case of children, the Special Protection of Children Act and the Rule on Examination of
a Child Witness mandate that there must only be a single interview by a multidisciplinary
group of professionals recorded in audio or videotape. Thus, the child does not suffer the
damaging effect of feeling re-victimized through repeated questioning.
The Rule on Examination of a Child Witness also allows the court to accept hearsay evidence.
Medical certificates are not required to commence a criminal case of sexual abuse, neither are
such evidences necessary to make a finding of guilt.
Justice for victims
Inside the courtroom, a child victim is presumed to be a competent witness and is entitled to
the services of support persons such as a trained child advocate or a guardian ad litem. If
there is a likelihood that the child will suffer trauma from testifying before the offender, the
Rule on Examination of a Child Witness provides for alternative ways to testify such as by livelink television or videotaped deposition.
When women or girls are the offended parties, a ‘sexual shield rule’ bars the offender from
offering any evidence that could establish that the victims engaged in other sexual behaviors
or show proof of their sexual predisposition. This demonstrates good court practice by way of
being gender and child sensitive when dealing with cases on women and children. Philippine
courts are likewise venturing into the use of DNA forensic evidence to prove sexual offences
against very young children whose testimonial capacities are limited.
Trust fund
All fines imposed by the courts on the offender and the proceeds or properties forfeited used
in trafficking accrue to a trust fund administered by the Inter-Agency Council Against
Trafficking. The fund is exclusively for programs to prevent trafficking, protect and rehabilitate
victims, and reintegrate trafficked persons into the community.
Finally, to ensure the recovery and re-entry of the victim to the community, courts direct
government agencies to make various services available to victims of trafficking, such as
emergency shelter or housing, counseling, free legal services, medical or psychological
services, livelihood and skills training and educational assistance to trafficked children.
About the author:
Judge Nimfa Cuesta Vilches is a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University and Ateneo Law
School. In 1989, she was appointed Municipal Trial Court Judge of Barugo, Leyte, and was
assigned to the Metropolitan Trial Courts of Manila, Makati, and Caloocan. In 1999, she was
appointed Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court, Branch 48, Manila.
Judge Vilches has completed many training courses on children's rights, juvenile law, people
trafficking and forensic and judicial studies in the UK and USA. Her professional qualifications
include: Professor, Ateneo Law School and Chief Justice Ramon Avecena Professorial Chair in
Civil Law for 2003-04; Member of the Faculty and Research Group of the Philippine Judicial
Academy, Supreme Court; Lecturer, UP Law Center and Institute of Judicial Administration
(training Nepalese judges and justices), the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Public
Attorneys Office, and UNICEF trainer.
In May 2002, Judge Vilches was a Member of the Philippine Delegation to the UN Special
Session for Children in New York, USA. She was Delegate-Rapporter to the 1st Australasian
Judicial Forum in Manila, January 2003 and to the Asia-Europe Experts Meeting in Manila,
March 2003. In August 2003, Judge Vilches was elected Chair of the Task Force on Justice for
Children, Council for the Welfare of Children, Office of the President.
Judge Vilches has written the articles ‘DNA and the Courts’ and ‘Are You Ready to be a
CASA/GAL Volunteer?’. In 1999, she started a program to train community volunteers to
promote the best interests of children in courts, voted by UNICEF as one of the 10 best
practices in Asia. Judge Vilches has also written a book, ‘BP22: FAQs’, published by Rex
Bookstore and due for release soon.